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And then there was one

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Posted: Wednesday January 12, 2000 08:25 AM

By Albert Lin, CNNSI.com

	• Our New Favorite Player • High Five/Riding the Pine • Storylines • Don't Miss It • Brendan Haywood Watch

Surprise, surprise, look who's the only undefeated team left in college basketball: Syracuse. Always underappreciated Jim Boeheim has his team at 11-0 following a big win at Miami Saturday -- the Orangemen's first foray outside of city limits. With two more road games on tap, Tuesday at West Virginia and Thursday at South Carolina, we know we're running the risk of looking foolish if Syracuse drops one, but, hey, Boeheim deserves some props.

The Orange seems to have finally put it all together. After a couple of years of high expectations and so-so results, the core of seniors Etan Thomas, Jason Hart and Ryan Blackwell is translating talent into wins. But while all three are having typically solid seasons, the real reason for Syracuse's success is the development of three younger players -- junior Damone Brown and sophomores Preston Shumpert and Tony Bland. That trio is averaging 30.4 ppg this season (up from 19.5 a year ago), with Brown leading the team at 14.7 a game.

Shumpert and Bland are both shooters, Shumpert hitting 51.4% of his three-pointers and Bland connecting on 54.5% from the field. Brown is a slasher and the best scoring threat on the team. He takes pressure off the three seniors -- Thomas' offensive game is still raw, Hart has never been a great shooter and Blackwell is more a blue-collar player than a go-to guy.

Syracuse's hallmark, though, has always been Boeheim's sometimes maddening zone defense. The Orange are holding opponents to 35.6% shooting and outrebounding them by almost seven a game. And Thomas remains one of the country's best shotblockers, even though he is undersized at 6'9".

The Orange have long had the talent to be permanent residents in the top 10; now it looks like they may actually make a home there.

Eddie House, sr., G, Arizona State

A look at House's stats and the Sun Devils' roster should have prepared us for what the 6'1" dynamo has been doing; he averaged 18.9 points last season and is the only senior on a club that has but two other letter winners. However, nothing could portend this: In his last six games House has put up 37.5 points per, including an astounding 61 in a double-overtime win over Cal on Saturday. Even more impressive, the Sun Devils are 5-1 in that stretch, the only loss coming at the hands of then No. 1 Stanford. House is a streak shooter who simply will not miss when he's on -- which means that even though opponents know who to defend, they can't necessarily do anything to stop him.

HIGH FIVE Troy Murphy: Why, oh, why did this poor kid decide to suffer at Notre Dame?

HIGH FIVE Bill Self: Former Oral Roberts coach has Tulsa at 14-1, despite graduation of Michael Ruffin.

HIGH FIVE Kansas: Joins Kentucky and North Carolina as only programs to reach 1,700-win plateau.

HIGH FIVE Troy Bell: Boston College freshman is averaging 19.3 ppg, and shooting 88.6% from line and 48.2% from three.

RIDING THE PINE Clemson: One of the most incredible stats out there -- the Tigers have never won a game in Chapel Hill (0-46).

RIDING THE PINE Coaches' poll: Maryland goes 0-2 and only drops one spot? Terps deserve a High Five for that one.

Topsy-turvy

Has the NFL's dreaded parity infected the NCAA? Teams are falling left and right, with competition sure to get more intense now that conference play has started. Will any school assert itself, or will we have a top 10 populated by five-loss teams at year's end?

Casualty of war

Arizona showed no ill effects after losing leading scorer Richard Jefferson to a stress fracture in the early stages of its win at Stanford, but his absence is bound to catch up with the Wildcats. They simply are not deep enough to do without him for too long.

Cancel it!

ESPN's Hoops Malone promos seemed like a cute idea when the season started, but they are growing more tiresome every day. Unfortunately, once you design a campaign around something, it's here to stay for the whole season. So let's sit back and see if they get any better.

Texas at Connecticut, Monday, 9 p.m. ET

Both these teams have been a little up and down this season, stocked with talent yet stricken with inexplicable losses. If Lone Star native Jake Voskuhl plays with pride -- which he should -- against his homestate school, UConn should cruise. But if Longhorns center Chris Mihm has his way, look out.

Indiana at Michigan State, Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Mateen Cleaves' return seems to have the Spartans back on their way into the top three. But the Hoosiers never make things easy for anyone and are playing as well as they have in the last couple years.

Kentucky at Auburn, Tuesday, 9 p.m.

After early season struggles -- which resulted in losses for the Wildcats but not for the Tigers -- both teams seem to be hitting their strides. Everything seems to point to Auburn in this one, but we're still not quite sold on the Tigers.

LSU at Florida, Wednesday, 7 p.m.

The Tigers suffered their first loss Saturday at home against Tennessee, but they still looked respectable doing so. This game will serve as another measuring stick for John Brady's young team. For the Gators, it's just a matter of time -- experience catching up with talent.

UCLA at North Carolina, Saturday, 4 p.m.

A great chance for those on the East Coast to see UCLA freshman Jason Kapono, who has emerged as the Bruins' best player, scoring 19, 19 and 20 points in his last three outings against Purdue, Washington and Washington State. That said, it's very difficult to see the Tar Heels not coming away with an easy W.

In the tradition of last season's William Avery Watch, we return to Tobacco Road to follow the trials and tribulations of another underachieving player whose improvement is crucial to his team's success. This 7-footer grabbed one rebound in the final two games of last season (losses to Duke in the ACC Tournament and Weber State in the NCAA Tournament), covering 57 minutes of playing time.

1999-00 stats: 12.9 pts., 6.1 rebs. and 2.7 blks. in 26.3 minutes per game

Although the Watch is now world-famous (or at least Carolina-famous), we promise not to let it go to our head. Haywood had a huge game (we should hope so) vs. Howard, with 21 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in 24 minutes, but otherwise it was just another week of ho-hum efforts. We're curious to see how he fares Wednesday at Wake Forest and Saturday vs. UCLA; both clubs have big men strong enough to manhandle him.

Come back every Monday afternoon for a new College Basketball Week at a Glance.

 

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